Type-writer platen.



No. 759,818. PATENTED MAY 10, 1904.

J. H. W. MARRIOTT.

TYPE WRITER PLATEN.

APPLICATION rum) our. 5, 190a.

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APPLICATION FILED OOT.5, 1903.

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Patented May 10, 1904.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES H. WV. MARRIOT", ()F \VASHINGION, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

TYPE-WRITER PLATEN.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 759,818, dated May 10, 1904.

Application filed October 5,1903- Serial No. 175,773- (No model.)

surface and in which either the machine or the platen may be moved for line-s 'iacing. In the application referred to a platen is shown having a paper-guide consisting of a ledge projecting upwardly above the printing bed or surface of the platen and at the edges of the latter for the purpose of readily locating the paper upon the platen. In order to provide for supporting sheets of paper or cards of various widths beneath the writing-ma chine, I provide platens of various sizes, each having fixed guides at its edges projecting above the writing-bed and serving to position the paper, and these platens are arranged to fit interchangeably upon a platen-carriage which is provided for the purpose of supporting the platens and is movable by suitable mechanism for the purpose of moving the platens for line-spacing. In the accompanying drawings l have shown various forms of platens embodying my improved means for holding and positioning the paper and the manner in which these platens are applied to a platencarriage. When it is desired to write upon paper or cards of any given size, a platen having a writing bed of the corresponding size, or nearly so, and a fixed guide at its edges may be selected and placed upon the platencarriage, and when it is desired to change the platen for a paper of different size this may be done in a moment.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a front view of the platen-carriage having a platen thereon and the platen-spacing mechanism, this View showing also the lixed guiderails for the writing-machine mounted upon standards and an outline of the writing-machine to indicate the relative positions of the parts. Fig. 2 1s a top plan view of the platencarriage, partly broken away to show thespacing mechanism, a platen being shown upon the carriage. Fig. 3 is a section through the platen on the line m a: of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a section through the platen-carriage on the line m n of Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a bottom plan view of a platen. Fig. 6 is a top perspective view of a platen, showing a continuous ledge or guide extending around the four edges of the platen and projecting above the writing-surface. Fig. 7 is a similar view of a larger platen in which a number of short guiding projections are employed instead of a continuous guiding-ledge at the edges of the platen; and Fig. Sis an enlarged sectional view on the lineg 51 Fig. 7, illustrating the manner in which the adjustable pa1 )er-holding clips are attached to the platen.

Referring to Figs. 1 to 5, inclusive, of the drawings, 1 and 2 indicate a pair of platcnguideways which are to be secured to a table or other fixed support and arranged parallel with a pair of fixed machine-guideways 3 and 1, which are mounted upon standards 5and 6, respectively, and supported thereby at a considerable distance above the table or other fixed support. The writing-machineA (indicated partly in outline in Fig. 1) is carried upon the fixed machine-guideways 3 and 4, and thus supported at afixed height above the writing-surface. Upon the platen-guideways 1 and 2 I arrange a platen-carriage B, consisting, preferably, of a light steel frame having the necessary rigidity for affording a solid and unyielding support for the platen which it carries. In Fig. 2 of the drawings the platencarriage is shown as consisting of a rectangular frame having longitudinal guide-pieces 7 on its lower side, which fit against the platen guideways 1 and 2 throughout the length of the carriage, and side pieces 8, which are eonnected by end pieces 9 and intermediate crosspieces 10. A rack-bar 11 is secured to the under side of one of the side pieces 8, and a pinion 12, journaled upon a stud 13, engages this rack.

The stud 13 projects vertically up ward from the table or support, and a ratchetwheel 14 is secured to the pinion 12 and rotates with the pinion upon the stud 13. The platen-carriage is spaced rearwardly step by step for line-spacing by means of a lever 15. which is pivoted upon a stud 16 and carries a spring-pawl 17, which normally engages the ratchetwheel 14. The lever is normally drawn rearwardly against a fixed stop 18 by K a spring 19. An adjustable stop 20 1s arranged in front of the lever upon a pivot-pin 21 in such position that the lever will strike the stop 20 when moved forward. This stop has two projections 22 and 23 extending at right angles to one another and to different distances from the pivotal point of the stop, and, as will readily be seen by the full and dotted lines,

either projection 22 or 23 may be brought into position to limit the movement of the spacing lever, and the distance to which the platencarriage moves at each operation of the lever may thus be varied and the distance between the lines of printed matter accordingly varied. The platen-carriage can be moved rearwardly to any desired position without using the spacing-lever by simply pushing the carriage backward with the hand. W hen it is desired to draw the carriage forward, however, the pawl may be released from the ratchet-wheel by turning a cam-lever 2 from the position shown in full lines to the position shown in dotted lines. This cam-lever is connected to a cam 25, which latter is pivoted to the spacing-lever 15, and, as is clearly shown in the drawings, while the cam-lever is in the position shown in full lines the pawl engages the ratchet-wheel; but when the cam-lever is turned into the position shown in dotted lines the cam engages the free end of the pawl and throws the hooked end out of engagement with the ratchet-wheel. Upon each end piece 9 of the platen-carriage is arranged a series of equidistant pins or projections 26, which extend slighly above the upper surface of the carriage. These pins are adapted to engage correspondingly-spaced holes or openings 27, located in the under sides of the removable platens 0 near their ends and to hold a platen of any desired size upon the carriage in a correct and fixed position.

Platens of various widths are provided, so that a platen of the proper width to suit the size of the paper which it is desired to print upon may be placed ,upon the platen-carriage. As shown in Figs. 3 and 5, the base or bottom of each platen consists of a sheet of thin steel 28, in the ends of which the holes or openings 27 are formed, and secured to the upper side of this plate is another thin plate 29, having upwardly-turned edges 30, which project slightly above the rubber or other composition printing bed 31, which is arranged upon the plate 29 between the projecting edges 30. These edges 30 form guides for the paper, and it will be seen that in order to position the paper upon a platen it is merely necessary to bring one end and one lateral edge of the paper against the guide 30 at one end and one lateral edge of the platen. In writing upon narrow paper or cards a narrow platen will be used, and for papers or cards of greater width a platen of corresponding width will be selected, and the platens, as will be seen, can be changed in a moment. This avoids-the necessity for arranging clamping and guiding devices upon the upper surface of the platen, such as are required where a platen of uniform width is employed for papers or cards of various widths. Instead of making the guiding edge continuous it may be broken or interrupted, as shown in Fig. 7 in which projections 3O are shown at suitable intervals along the edges of the platen. The paper may be held upon the platen by ordinary detachable paper-clips 32, Fig. 3, which are suitably formed to grip the lower edge of the plate 29 and to extend around the guiding edge 30 and grip the upper surface of the platen. In order that these clips may not interfere with the platen-carriage, the baseplate 28 of each platen is made somewhat narrower than the plate 29 to form a recess 29 at the edges, into which the lower tongue of the clip extends.

The platens may be provided with clips adjustably secured at the edges of the platens, as shown in Figs. 7 and 8. In these figures the paper-holding clips 32 areshown adjustably secured to a platen at both of its lateral edges, the curved spring 33 of each clip having its lower end arranged within a guide slot or recess 34, formed between a lip 35 on the edge of the plate 28 and the plate 29. A slight longitudinal groove 36 is formed in the bottom of the latter, and the spring has its end 37 turned slightly upward to engage the retaining groove 36. A lever 38 extends through an opening 39 in the spring 33. One end of this lever extends above the ledges 30 and beneath the upper end of the spring 33, and the extremity of the lever is turned upwardly, as shown, to form a groove in which the free end of the spring is held. By operating the lever it will be seen that the clamp may be made to engage or disengage the paper, and the clamp may be adjusted to any position along the platen. One or several of these clamping devices may be arranged along one or more edges of the platen, and they may be supplemented with detachable clips, if desired.

\Vhile I have shown a series of pins on the platen-carriage and platens with correspondingly-arranged openings for'the purpose of alining and holding the platens against movement upon the carriage, other means may be employed for this purpose; but I prefer the construction specified on account of its simplicity. The form of the guiding projections at the edges of the platen may be varied, and it will be obvious that various changes in the form and construction of the platen-carriage may be made within the scope of my invention.

Having described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,

1. The combination with a writing-machine supported independently of and apart from the printing bed or surface, of a platencomprising a flat rectangular bed having a Writing-pad thereon, and paper-guiding ledges se cured to the edges of the bed at one sideand one end of the writing-pad and projecting above the latter.

2. The combination with a writing-machine supported independently of and apart from the printing bed or surface, of a platen comprising a flat rectangular bed having a writing-pad thereon, and paper-guiding ledges secured to the edges of the bed at both sides and both ends of the writing-pad and projecting above the latter.

3. A platen for type-writers comprising a flat rectangular metal plate having a writingpad thereon, said plate having one end and one lateral edge turned upwardly and projecting a bed having a writing pad or surface thereon, paper-guiding projections connected to one or more edges of the bed and extending above the writing-surface, and a recess extending along one or more edges of the bed, said recess being adapted to receive one end of a paper-holding clip.

6. A flat platen for type-writers comprising a bed having a writing pad or surface thereon, a recess extending along one or more edges of the bed, and a spring-clip having one end within said recess and its opposite end adapted to bear against the writing-surface.

7. A flat platen for type-writers comprising a bed having a writing pad or surface thereon, paper-guiding projections connected to one or more edges of the bed and extend-- ing above the writing-surface, a recess extending along one or more edges ofthe bed, and a spring-clip having one end within said recess, said clip extending around the edge of the platen and above said guiding projections and having its opposite end arranged to bear against the writing-surface.

8'. A flat platen for type-writers co1nprising a bed having a writing pad or surface thereon, paper-guiding projections connected to one or more edges of the bed and extending above the writing-surface, a recess extending along one or more edges of the bed, said recess having a retaining-groove at its. inner side, and a spring-cli p having one end fitting within said retaining-groove, said clip eXtending around the edge of the platen and above said guiding projections and having its opposite end arranged to bear against the writingsurface.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JAMES H. MARRIO'...F.

WVitnesses:

ROBERT VVATsoN, BERNARD W. BONTZ. 

